Just a random thought

[Gingham]

This is just a random thought I have been having. I have a somewhat hard time trying to get the perfect idea of a character I want to make. Like just earlier today I just gave up on a run I was making (i didn't finish the first act) because I feel like my Bearfolk character wasn't fit to be a black mage, but when i changed it it just got worse...and worse...and even if I kept trying to find the right idea, it just never worked. And onto the thought; does anyone else get/feel this way? Or am I just chronically online and it's weird to get upset when nothing goes my way.

 

[Bobonga]

No, you are not alone. I have the same problem. Over the years, I've figured out that I need to be invested in my characters. Otherwise, they rarely survive more than one play session. Hence, I always plan my build, gear, race, and personality in that order. Deviating from that plan kills the character.

My currently only champ is a bimbo cowgirl. I chose this since it's pretty basic and I didn't have to overthink everything again. Initially, she was a charmer, but I got my ass kicked in the Undermountain. That was back when threat was just a suggestion. I was the main healer, but I couldn't keep up with the spread of damage. After lots of thinking, I decided to change to White Mage for healers hands. Welp, 5 days later, the threat rework came, and it felt like a punch in the gut. The character wasn't what I planned her to be, and she felt dead to me. I didn't want to change back to Charmer either. After that experience, I didn't play for a year or so. I just tried the new combat stuff with test characters. When I started playing again, I reluctantly made her into a leadership warrior build. I kind of roleplayed as Brints girlfriend, pretending to be a knight. I had a lot of fun with the new build, and the Lumia soulbind was the perfect option for her, even though I never planned on soulbinding at all. All is well, that ends well. But this was the only of my many, MANY characters that survived an unforseen change in build.

That being said, I build new champs to cover content I haven't experienced yet. Which is problematic since I try to be everything at once. At the moment, I kind of want to do a spellblade, but I wanted to save that build for the Nareva soulbind. Nareva mage mander is cool too, so I guess I will do Gothmander Blackmage instead. But also Dark Knight because of new experiences. Kassyra faithfull charmer maybe? But what about my Mongolian archer-inspired Marefolk pure range thief? Also, I need to playtest that stupid tanky warrior build. Perfect positioning is cool too, and my Kitsune spear master is long overdue. Oh yeah, and I need to knock up everything because mayternity started. Not to forget the dual-wield stuff I want to try out. And I want to be a tiger, but lizardfolk are cool too, but I'm vibing with Siorcanna right now. Oh, but Nash sells odd-looking salve, which means I could roleplay a Deathclaw from Fallout, but horny. In the end, I discourage myself because nothing feels right or fun anymore.

To close this up, a funny anecdote: The game "stole" my already planned character three times in a row. I theorycrafted a spellblade with the spiraled blade as the main weapon, a day later, hexblade Cait got released. Then I prepared a charmer catfolk dancer character. Boom, dancer set for Cait. A bit miffed, I planned a Taleer big booty bunny buttslut ranger build, and low and behold, Sariel gets implemented into the game.

 

[Gingham]

At the moment, I kind of want to do a spellblade, but I wanted to save that build for the Nareva soulbind. Nareva mage mander is cool too, so I guess I will do Gothmander Blackmage instead. But also Dark Knight because of new experiences. Kassyra faithfull charmer maybe? But what about my Mongolian archer-inspired Marefolk pure range thief? Also, I need to playtest that stupid tanky warrior build. Perfect positioning is cool too, and my Kitsune spear master is long overdue. Oh yeah, and I need to knock up everything because mayternity started. Not to forget the dual-wield stuff I want to try out. And I want to be a tiger, but lizardfolk are cool too, but I'm vibing with Siorcanna right now. Oh, but Nash sells odd-looking salve, which means I could roleplay a Deathclaw from Fallout, but horny. In the end, I discourage myself because nothing feels right or fun anymore.

I feel this section on a spiritual level. I have no idea how many Champs I went through on my phone playing the game, as the only one I really remember would be a solely black mage that i roleplayed as being apart of some sort of wicth doctor / shaman tribe that was unfortunately wiped out (more like sexed out) because of Kas and her little imp's causing my Champ to run away and all that other stuff. They only lasted like a little over 200 in the game days until I just got bored because I couldn't get them to be my ideal version of what i thought they would / could be. Personally I know many of my own downfalls in why I just abandon my characters; for starters I tend to rush through things and just like being a power house even though that is hard to do in the game, which I don't mind since it gives me a challenge. Another would be that I lose interest in how my Champ turns out, like my poor poor deleted run of my bearfolk one I mentioned a few days ago. They were going so well...until I tried to change them to go towards a build I know will never be used because I don't know how to make builds personally.

But, this time I am starting another Champ that i am save editing to be a Thief Leothran that got lost in a hunt and ended up coming across Hawthorne and just hung around doing small jobs here and there before the whole Kas situation happened. But the most important part of this is that I am basing them on Death from Puss in Boots: The Last Wish with that whole sickle use for the moment. Apart from my rambling, I'm glad that I'm not the only one that faces something similar. Seeing people make these cool characters that they continue building off of and then there's me not being able to stick to one character / having no good 'build' I use is a bit overwhelming.

 

[Bobonga]

There are 3 things that help me making a new champ:

1) I give my build a direction, not being too precise on what it should do but, more importantly, defining what it should not do. The best example would be a spellblade. My stats would be Str/Agi/Will, which means I could go pure physical but also pure magic, healing or hybrid in the same build. This amount of freedom makes the build too general for my taste and kind of makes the character not "defined," for lack of a better word. As a restriction, I would only use weapon powers that are also spells, like Smite Evil or the new powers from Ryn Quest. This way, this champ would be more unique instead of a jack-of-all-trades. I would much rather have a dedicated build for a thief, white or black mage, than a build that fits all roles.

2) Whenever I have a new character idea, I wait a few days before I truly work on it. I'm very prone to spontaneous ideas, which lose their luster just as quickly. If you still want to follow through with an idea after some days of consideration, it's often worth pursuing.

3) I like to look at the artwork of fantasy characters and then base my characters on them. There's plenty of lewd art as well, which can be fitting for this game. Kind of what you did with Death. This gives a general direction for the build and maybe even roleplay, if the character is more than a pretty picture. I would be careful, though. Sometimes that can make your champ too specific and boring again. For example, the summon power of the corrupted dawnsword almost inspired me to make a champ based on Elemer of the Briar, aka the Bellbearing hunter from Elden Ring. Not only would that character be way too specific, but it would also be really shallow. His only character trait would be that he has a floating sword. Pretty useless trait for roleplaying and locking me into the corrupted dawnsword.

Seeing people make these cool characters that they continue building off of and then there's me not being able to stick to one character / having no good 'build' I use is a bit overwhelming.

Yeah, I feel that. To be fair, a lot of people have an OC, or self insert, that they can use in these circumstances. I kinda, sorta have one, but he only fits in his original setting. So, don't be discouraged. Without a "default" character, we have a lot of freedom in our choices. Granted, this freedom is overwhelming at times. I think that the true difficulty is setting boundaries for this freedom and being consequent about it.

 

[Dr. Bootytaste]

The ultimate character choice is of course, the cat. You have many options when it comes to cat. Well, two, really. Choose 5ft tall pocket prince cat, or, an alternative option if you aren't into short kings is the 8ft mommy manticore. This is also a solid pick but it has a few drawbacks.
Cat is the greatest and most correct option because cats are adorable, but It comes with other perks as well. For one, some npc's call catfolk "kitten" in dialogue, which is cute. Also, you are small. So you can tell women to "come down here and give me a kiss."
Another perk of being a cat is you go fast. Philosophers have speculated for generations that going fast is really cool. Not like superman or the Flash because superheroes are "fucking lame." As the kids say, but fast like Mike Tyson punching some guy directly in his stupid face before he crumbles to the ground in the first eight seconds of a fight. You might say to me, "But doctor, you can be fast and not be a cat, can you not?" And to this I would say, yes. Yes you could. But you would also be a poor fool who receives no money nor bitches, walking around with his average height, bereft of any meaning or purpose in his life. Go to the gym with brienne, do squats with a woman a full three and a half feet taller than you as a tiny cat. Then you will understand the ultimate pleasure that becomes of being a feline.